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Belgian MEP Man Verhofstadt has been bombarded with disapproving tweets after suggesting the EU may sweep the Olympics if European athletes competed for the bloc and mixed their medals.
The previous European Parliament Brexit chief mused on Thursday that the EU would dominate the worldwide video games if Olympians from throughout the bloc shared their success with Brussels.
“Enjoyable reality: EU mixed has extra gold medals than US or China #TokyoOlympics I’d like to see the EU flag subsequent to the nationwide on athletes’ garments. Our id is layered – we’re proud Italians, Latvians, Germans, Slovenians… and Europeans. Our sports activities ought to mirror that !” Verhofstadt tweeted.
Enjoyable reality: EU mixed has extra gold medals than US or China #TokyoOlympicsI’d like to see the EU flag subsequent to the nationwide on athletes’ garments.Our id is layered – we’re proud Italians, Latvians, Germans, Slovenians… and Europeans. Our sports activities ought to mirror that !🥇🇪🇺
— Man Verhofstadt (@guyverhofstadt) August 5, 2021
However his modest proposal wasn’t precisely a crowd-pleaser.
Many had been fast to level out that Verhofstadt was attempting to have it each methods: by permitting EU states to compete individually but in addition as a bloc, the union would have an enormous pool of athletes that it may use to rack up its medal rely.
“Nice thought, you may be the one to inform hundreds of athletes they haven’t certified as there is just one EU Olympic group, not 27 nationwide groups (the actual cause the cumulative whole is excessive),” learn one snarky reply.
Though issues would look totally different if there have been solely a single EU group as a substitute of 27 nationwide groups provided that there could be fewer athletes from the EU in that case.
— Alain Deckers (@Alain_Deckers) August 5, 2021
I believe you mentioned this 5 years in the past as effectively. What you ignore, after all, is that the EU wouldn’t be permitted the identical variety of athletes that the member states at the moment provide. In order for you an EU group, that is superb, however it will not have the ability to enter 27x as many individuals as US or China.
— Philip Bean (@PhilipBean17) August 5, 2021
Pointing to the identical discrepancy, quite a few others questioned the veracity of Verhofstadt’s boast.
So 27 rich nations have extra gold medals than 1 rich nation? I’d have thought that may have been a given to be trustworthy.
— the voice of cause (@thevoic98740450) August 5, 2021
At the least one Twitter consumer was more than pleased to brag about how post-Brexit Britain was outperforming all the prime EU member states.
Others claimed that Verhofstadt was advocating for a European superstate. The interpretation obtained pushback from those that famous that the MEP was acknowledging nationwide in addition to European id.
One reply joked that perhaps NATO ought to tally its gold medals.
Regardless of the criticisms, there have been nonetheless some who absolutely supported the Belgian politician’s thought.
it will be fantastic😍😍😍🇪🇺🇪🇺🇪🇺
— marilux74🇪🇺 (@mariatrulli) August 5, 2021
Verhofstadt is thought for his zealous advocacy for EU federalism. He made headlines together with his often-provocative feedback about Britain’s profitable referendum to go away the bloc in 2016. Lately he has taken intention at Hungary for its stance on LGBTQ points, warning that the EU “has a dictatorship rising inside it.”
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